The word "tons" should not be used except to describe mass/weight.

[Lethe]

this has got to be the most overused, generic word in american parlance today

it's used in tons of inappropriate places

[gmoney]

1. OED lists the preferred term as "shitloads"

but then again, I have a hang-up about precise English usage.

[Lethe]

2. i loooooooove the OED

i recently obtained electronic access to the OED...and i spend hours browsing the entries (i know i am a nerd)

[cbdo2007]

6. true - "tons" is usually what I fall back on when trying not to say "shitloads" in front of

my grandparents, or little children or something. I almost say "shitloads" and then get flustered so just fall back on "tons".

[kedrys]

30. "Crapton" if you're in polite company

:P

[MajorChode]

3. In the south, the prefered word is 'heap'

As in, I've got a heap o' apples, or I'm in a heap o' trouble.

[mitchum]

20. Or "beaucoups"...

but always pronounced "boo kooz"

[snooper2]

4. I believe "like" is the most overused, generic word in american parlance today

It should only be used as if you are comparing something.

:argh:

[madeline_con]

24. Like, agreed. n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. I also believe that mass and weight should not be used interchangably

since they are tons different.

weight is mass in a gravitational (real or artificial) field.

[Deep13]

7. It bugs me when people purport to convert from Kg to lbs.

Kg is a unit of mass. Lbs. is a unit of weight which is mass accelerated by gravity. So any equivelency should stipulate static weight accelerated to 32 ft./sec. squared.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Obama should work on making the slug more popular!

[Deep13]

17. Yeah, stop dumping salt on them!

:evilgrin:

Or at least start measuring weight in Newtons.

[PVnRT]

14. There is the pound (force/weight) and pound-mass

On Earth, they are equal to each other, so you can make the conversion. On Mars, not so much, without additional math.

[Lethe]

9. we covered tons of these kind of topics in high school physics

since gravity is constant for tons of places on earth you can freely convert between the two

[Deep13]

10. That's only for static weight at sea level.

Accelleration from gravity is slightly diminished with altitude, though for practical purposes it is not significant. The static weight think is significant because things "weigh" a lot more when they are moving than when they are just sitting on the floor.

[MajorChode]

21. They weigh more when accelerating

They can be moving and weigh the same.

[flvegan]

11. Tonnes of good information in this thread.

[Orsino]

12. Fifty dandies agree.

It should be used only to describe polite society, unless one is in...(gasp)...trade.

[seemunkee]

13. What about butt load?

[liberaltrucker]

15. See "shitload" above

:)

[Initech]

26. I personally use "ass load".

[seemunkee]

29. Is that how much an ass can carry?

More than an assload



A butt = 2 hogshead or 4 barrels or 1/2 tun

[WildEyedLiberal]

16. I prefer "loads." Or maybe "heaps"

[ChickMagic]

18. I hear that tons of times

Really. I prefer pantsload.

[backwoodsbob]

19. this thread

could be tons of fun

[UTUSN]

22. Tweety uses it as some kind of "classy" word n/t

[timtom]

23. And, it should never, never be pronounced backward.

[lutefisk]

25. Especially not forward and backward together: "tons of snot"

That would be too much.

[timtom]

28. Check. And mate.

LOL

[Jamastiene]

27. So....how much do "inappropriate places" weigh?

:popcorn: